Is This The Year Of The Upset?

The answer became a little clearer after a pair of major upsets on Saturday.

Quarterback Chris Weinke threw six interceptions as second-ranked Florida State fell to North Carolina State 24-7. Wide receiver Torry Holt scoring on a 68-yard punt return and a 63-yard pass from Jamie Barnette with 9:31 left that sealed it for the Wolfpack.

"To go out there and hold that offensive football team to seven points, that's miraculous, that is miraculous," N.C. State coach Mike O'Cain said in a post-game press conference. "Nobody gave us a dog's chance of coming in here and winning this football game - not a prayer. In fact it was going to be a 30-point game or whatever the heck it was. We have a great university here that nobody has heard about. I believe they heard about N.C. State today."

The Wolfpack entered the contest as 25-point underdogs. The last time they had beaten an opponent so highly ranked was in 1967, when they upset then-second ranked Houston.

"Our offense just could not execute at all," said FSU coach Bobby Bowden. "That's the biggest surprise I've got. For some reason we couldn't throw the ball and catch."

And after a huge victory over Michigan last weekend, No. 10 Notre Dame was clobbered on the road by Michigan State, 45-23. The Spartans began the season 0-2 after surprising losses to Colorado State and Oregon.

"From a psychological standpoint the players needed to believe in themselves and play with a physical tenacity for 60 minutes," MSU coach Nick Saban told reporters after the game. "Even though we didn't do it for 60 minutes and it was a little sloppy at the end, I was pleased with that."

Spartans quarterback Bill Burke was 12-of-19 for 209 yards and touchdown passes of 16, 86 and 17 yards. Tailback Sedrick Irvin ran for 119 yards on 24 carries.

"I think we matured a little bit today and it's certainly going to help our confidence," Saban added. "I think the players just came together a little bit. I think they all took the challenge of what each one of them needed to do.

"We had better perseverance today. If Rocky didn't have perseverance he would've never made it past the first movie."

Perseverance has also been the calling card of one of the NCAA's greatest coaches, who was rewarded with his 300th win on Saturday. No. 9 Penn State defeated Bowling Green 28-3 to give make Joe Paterno the sixth coach in NCAA history to reach the mark. His career record currently stands at 300-77-3.

Go To Page: 1 2